Italy shock champions France

Italy (6) 22France (8) 21

Italy secured a first-ever Six Nations victory over France after stunning last season's Grand Slam winners with a one-point victory here yesterday.

Italy had lost their 11 previous Six Nations matches to France.

Two-time European Cup finalists Biarritz recorded their first win over Racing-Metro in their four Top 14 meetings yesterday with a thrilling 36-32 victory.

Biarritz ran in four tries to Racing's two to give themselves a huge boost in their bid to finish in the top six and earn a place in the end-of-season play-offs.

Second-place Racing had the consolation of taking a defensive bonus point, but with table-topping Toulouse edging Brive 23-22, they fell further behind the leaders, who now have a six-point lead with five matches remaining.

Brive's defeat, their fourth in five matches, saw them drop to second from bottom, while Bourgoin's relegation was confirmed after a 39-17 thrashing by Toulon.

La Rochelle did their hopes of avoiding the drop no end of good by beating high-fliers Montpellier 20-16 and now hold a one-point advantage over Brive, with Agen fourth from bottom, a point ahead of La Rochelle.

Stade Francais eased fears of getting swept up in the relegation battle with a hard-fought 22-18 win over Agen.

Stade's Italian star Mauro Bergamasco marked his return to action after several months out with a shoulder injury by scoring a 71st-minute try.

Racing had stunned Biarritz with an early onslaught that saw them take a 16-3 lead, including a try by wing Julien Saubade, as they outplayed them all over the pitch.

Biarritz coach Jean-Michel Gonzalez reacted by taking off former All Black prop Campbell Johnstone in the 20th minute, which immediately stabilised their scrum, and the balance of the match shifted further when Racing were reduced to 14 men two minutes later.

Springbok World Cup-winning back Francois Steyn was sin-binned for tackling Biarritz's Zimbabwe-born American international Takudzwa Ngwenya without the ball, which allowed the hosts back into the match.

Julien Peyrelongue converted the resulting penalty and then converted a well-worked try by Yann Lesgourgues before levelling the match with another penalty seven minutes from the break.

Biarritz's momentum was not halted by the halftime pause as they ran in two tries in quick succession.

The first was through Fijian wing Ilikena Bolakoro, who had escaped a sin-binning in the first-half for a deliberate block on opposite number Sireli Bobo.

Argentinian flyhalf Marcelo Bosch then crossed over after fine work by in-form English fullback Iain Balshaw.

Racing, though, regrouped, and Steyn redeemed himself for his earlier lapse with a penalty from inside his own half.